In recent years, electric vehicles have been rapidly popularizing in China, but cases of sudden power failure while driving have also been occurring from time to time. In a recent incident in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, a car owner experienced a terrifying moment when his vehicle suddenly went dark and lost power after driving for about 5 minutes, leaving his family in a state of shock.
Mr. Yang, a car owner in Zhanjiang, Guangdong, was driving a Baojun Yunhai pure electric car when he encountered a dangerous situation: the vehicle suddenly lost power while driving, causing all screens to go black and power to disappear, narrowly avoiding an accident. Reflecting on the situation, Mr. Yang still feels shaken by the experience.
On March 5th, Mr. Yang told the local media “Da Feng News” that he purchased the SAIC-GM-Wuling Baojun Yunhai pure electric 600 km version in Zhengzhou, Henan in October 2025.
Around noon on March 3rd, while preparing to go out in Hengshan Town, Zhanjiang City, he received a call from the manufacturer’s customer service saying “an abnormality was detected in the vehicle backend, please be cautious.” However, there were no fault lights or warnings displayed in the car at that time, so he didn’t pay much attention to it.
Subsequently, Mr. Yang drove down to meet a friend. After only about 4 kilometers of driving, approximately 5 minutes later, the small screen suddenly displayed “low battery level,” followed by a message on the main screen indicating “shutting down in 3 seconds.” Before he could react, the vehicle completely lost power, with the instrument panel and central screen all going dark, rendering the vehicle powerless.
“At that time, my wife and child were also in the car, and the whole family was terrified,” Mr. Yang recalled, stating that he tried to restart the vehicle with the remote key, but on the first two attempts, the screen lit up briefly only to display “shutting down in 3 seconds,” and on the third attempt, the remote had no response. Helpless, he had to contact a towing service to have the vehicle taken to the local dealership for inspection.
Mr. Yang also revealed that the vehicle had previously experienced charging abnormalities. On January 1st, while getting a paint touch-up at a 4S shop in Dongxing, Guangxi, he found that slow charging could only reach 93% before stopping. The shop claimed the slow charging machine was damaged and needed to wait for replacement parts. Even during another repair in Bama, Guangxi, he was told there were no spare parts available.
On February 4th, while returning to Zhengzhou, he visited the shop again, only to receive the same response of “continue to wait for parts.”
As slow charging and fast charging systems are different, Mr. Yang has been using fast charging to recharge the vehicle, not completely solving the problem.
On March 5th, reporters from “Da Feng News” contacted the local Baojun 4S dealership in Zhanjiang. After an initial inspection, the shop stated that the vehicle’s auxiliary battery was damaged and unable to charge, causing a complete power failure in the entire system, describing this situation as “relatively rare.”
However, this explanation did not reassure Mr. Yang. He mentioned that from the vehicle experiencing issues to complete power failure, there were no warning signs on the instrument panel or fault codes displayed. “If there had been a warning beforehand, I could have at least pulled over, instead of suddenly losing power on the road.”
Mr. Yang believes that the sudden engine stall while driving, especially with his family in the car, poses a clear safety hazard. Currently, he has filed a formal complaint with the car manufacturer and is awaiting further response and resolution from the factory.
In fact, cases of electric vehicles in China suddenly losing power while driving have not been isolated incidents in recent years.
On February 11, 2026, a car owner in Guangdong, Ms. Zhang, driving a Dongfeng Qichen Da V new energy vehicle purchased in 2023, experienced two sudden power failures while driving on the Guangzhou-Guangdong section of the highway, endangering the safety of herself and her two children. After two checks by 4S dealerships, the initial judgment was that the incidents were caused by low voltage in the starting battery.
On February 9, 2026, Chinese new energy vehicle company NIO announced a recall of approximately 246,000 vehicles due to software issues that could cause temporary black screens on the instrument panel and central screen, posing certain safety risks.